Now we know that Christ was not born on December 25. He was not born on January 7 (when many Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas). Jesus was probably born around the season of the Feast of Tabernacles. But this is not really an issue because any day is a great day to celebrate Christ! And any time is a great time for telling the story of Christ and celebrating God’s love for the world—which was His motivation for bringing His Son into this Earth—and should be our focus at Christmas!

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Show Notes:

If you have a Christmas tree in your house, why do you have that tree? What does it represent? Do you have lights hanging on your tree and around your house? What do those lights represent? Do you have a manger scene sitting on a counter somewhere in your house? This Christmas let us use our holiday decorations as teaching tools to illustrate God’s gift of salvation to others. Let us bring Christ into Christmas.

One of the greatest things we do as a sacrament in the church is what we call communion, where we take bread and wine as an illustration and reminder to us of what Christ did for us on the cross. Why not take the elements of Christmas—trees, lights, manger scenes, decorations—and likewise let them be reminders to us of the salvation that He brought to us?

So, this year, let us relate to Christmas as we do to communion—in remembrance of Him. Let us use these illustrations to teach our families and ourselves about the story of Christ—not just about His birth, but all of His life. He was born in that manger so that He would go to the cross, which by his death and suffering brought us salvation and redemption and opened the door for redemption to all mankind. This is why we celebrate Christmas!

Key Verses:

• 1 Corinthians 1:18. “The word of the cross is … the power of God.”
• Philippians 3:17–21. “They are enemies of the cross of Christ.”
• Galatians 3:13. “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”
• Deuteronomy 21:23. “Shall not hang all night on the tree.”
• Philippians 2:8. “Being found in appearance as a man.”
• Colossians 2:9. “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
• John 8:12. “I am the Light of the world.”
• John 1:3. “All things came into being through Him.”
• John 9:5. “I am the Light of the world.”
• Matthew 5:14. “You are the light of the world.”
• Genesis 3:14–16. “And I will put enmity between … your seed and her seed.”
• Genesis 22:16. “You … have not withheld your son, your only son.”
• Isaiah 9:6. “For a child will be born to us.”
• Micah 5:2–5. “But as for you, Bethlehem.”
• Isaiah 53:1–12. “The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”
• I Corinthians 15:1–28. “The gospel which I preached to you.”
• Luke 2:1–2. “Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus.”
• Matthew 2:1–3. “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.”
• John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”
• John 10:27–28. “My sheep hear My voice … and I give eternal life to them.”
• Romans 8:6. “The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”
• Titus 3:4–7. “Our Savior and His love for mankind appeared.”
• Romans 8:28–39. “He who did not spare His own Son.”

Quotes:

• “If we’re going to call it Christmas, and if we’re going to say it’s about Christ, then let’s bring Christ into it.”
• “The devil wants people to relate to Christmas as foolishness and turn it into a secular celebration. But in the heart and mind of God, it was the beginning of the execution of His will on the earth and the start of the process for our salvation.”
• “What decorations do you have? What celebrations do you enjoy? Find the Scriptures that point to the gospel message that these things illustrate so you can teach your children what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”

Takeaways:

1. Let us bring Christ back into Christmas and celebrate Him by letting everything we do be an illustration that brings to us a remembrance of Him.
2. Spend a little time before Christmas and study the complete gospel story of salvation in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and dig into the significance in the Scriptures listed in these notes so that they live for you and so you can make them live for others.
3. Let this be a year we celebrate Christ rather than Christmas.